Mystical Thank You
by See Jane Write
Summary: Instead of Cordelia dying at the end of 'You're Welcome', the Powers That Be turn her body into the bodies of a young Cordelia and a young Doyle.
1. Chapter 1

Mystical Thank-you

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. Obviously. The character's are Joss's and the idea for the story came from the "anti-coma" challenge by gidgetgirl.

Author's Note: I started this almost two years ago with the intention of having it be a one-shot. Then of course, my mind wandered off, things happened, and I never got back to it. Now I have returned to it, and it's going to be longer. Let me know what you think.

* * *

"You're welcome," Cordelia finished as she gazed into Angel's dazzling brown eyes for a final time in her mortal life. And then she was gone. Her mission as Angel's associate was successfully completed. Whether or not the brooding vampire knew it yet was beyond her knowledge and concern. When the time was right, Angel would know.At the exact same moment during which those two simple words passed over Cordelia's soft lips, the physical body of Cordelia Chase disappeared from the hospital bed at the medical facility in the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram and Hart. In the twenty-two-year-old's place fell two children, a boy and a girl. Neither one of them looked possibly over the age of eleven and both looked around with wide and confused eyes. 

The girl was the younger of the two, probably only seven or eight in age. Her wavy brown hair came down to her white hospital gown where it rested along her thin shoulders. Her dark brown eyes filled with fear and alarm as she cautiously sat upright on the bed next to the boy.

Her male companion was young, but not younger than she, with an age of about ten. His hair was short and dark and he had angular features along with gorgeous dark eyes. He quickly caught on to the girl's apprehension and he moved slightly closer to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, princess," he whispered in a comforting voice. "I'll protect you no matter what," he added as the Irish accent in his voice was becoming more and more noticeable with each word.

"Who are you?" the little girl asked as she glanced up slightly at the boy, her eyes still wide and now slightly filled with confusion.

"That's what I would like to know," the on-call nurse exclaimed as she closed the door behind her with a slight bang. She then gasped in shock as the concept of the unoccupied bed finally registered in her mind. "And what have you done with the patient who was here?"

The boy shrugged in mild confusion. "Look, lady, I dunno what you're talking about when you say patient, but my name's Allen Francis Doyle."

"What are you doing here?" the nurse asked impatiently as she crossed her arms across her blue shirt. "And who are you?" she asked as she directed her angered gaze towards the young girl.

The girl shook her head back and forth violently as she gave Doyle a slight push so that he was in front of her.

"Give me your name," the nurse commanded sternly as she tried to reach for the girl's wrist.

Again, the girl refused and she placed both her hands firmly underneath her body.

"I'm calling my employer," the nurse warned as she took off down the hallway towards her office that contained a phone.

After the nurse had left, Doyle jumped off the bed and gently closed the door before rejoining the girl on the bed. "Out of curiosity, what **is** your name?"

The girl moved closer to Doyle on the bed. She then placed her left wrist in his hand, turning it slightly so that her name was visible on the hospital's identification bracelet.

"Chase _comma_ Cordelia J," Doyle read aloud softly. "It's pretty. Why keep that a secret?"

"They'd poke me with sharp things," Cordelia whispered as she gave an emphatic gesture at her wardrobe. "I'm the one dressed in the ugly outfit! When I get out of this, my father will make these jerks pay."

"Don't worry," Doyle stated again as he wrapped a gentle arm around Cordelia's shaking shoulders. "No one will hurt you. Not on my watch," he promised as he arose from the bed. "So what do you say about exploring the jungle?" he asked curiously as he extended his right hand out to Cordelia.

Cordelia smiled slightly as she took Doyle's hand. "Ok," she agreed as she too stood up.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Angel, the medical wing's on the line," came the bouncy voice from Harmony Kendall, Angel's personal assistant for some reason that still remained a mystery to the brooding CEO of the law firm.

Angel took one glance over at his now ringing black phone on his office desk before snapping out of his shock that Cordelia had been in his office. _She had been there, hadn't she?_ Angel wondered as he reached for the phone. "Angel," he said although he was fairly certain that the caller already knew that bit of information.

Fred Burkle tiptoed barefoot into the room with a few papers held tightly in her hands. She glanced over at Angel's facial expression, which was growing sadder and more nervous with each second. "What?" she mouthed as she placed her lab's test results on Angel's desk.

Angel nodded solemnly as he placed the lightweight phone back on its receiver. "Medical wing," he said in shock. "Something about a disturbance in Cordelia's room," he added as he repeated the call's news to his friend.

"Disturbance?" Fred asked warily. "Disturbance how?" she asked as she mentally prepared herself for the worst possible news regarding one of her closest friends.

"Not exactly sure, but I need to find out," Angel stated as he rushed across his gray carpeted office toward his private elevator. As soon as it opened, he motioned for Fred to follow him with one quick wave of his hand. The scientist dutifully did as she was told and once she was in, Angel pushed the button conveniently marked 'medical'.

* * *

Things were growing more clear as Cordelia and Doyle finally reached a section of the vast law firm that was of interest to Cordelia. More clear in the sense of that the two children were getting better ideas of who they were, not more clear in the sense that they knew why they were there. Doyle knew that he definitely was not in Ireland anymore. Also he knew that there was something different about him that made him more special than other humans. He was unsure of what that thing was, but he was certain that he was not normal.

As for Cordelia, she still thought that she was in Sunnydale although she was unsure of where exactly in the crazy town she was. "You know," Cordelia began as she slipped a gold bracelet over her thin wrist, "normally I wouldn't hang out with a loser like you. But since you're the only one here and you're in **fourth** grade, you can stay with me."

"I am not a loser!" Doyle immediately countered angrily. "What would make you think that?"

"The hair," Cordelia replied simply. "But you're not so bad for someone without rich parents," she added sweetly as Doyle subconsciously placed his hands on his head, feeling his hair.

"Really?" Doyle asked in shock.

Cordelia nodded boldly. "Daddy always told me to tell the truth no matter what," she pointed out. "He always says that, but his favorite saying has got to be, 'Cordelia, take this twenty and buy something pretty while I do these tax things'," she said, dropping her voice in an imitation of her father.

"Right," Doyle told her as he looked around the room. "Here," he added lamely as he handed her a small diamond bracelet from one of the boxes.

"Thanks," she said as she smiled at Doyle. "But if you really want to make yourself useful, you could try finding some decent clothes."

"Of course," Doyle said as he began searching through the boxes.

* * *

"What the hell is going on here?" Angel demanded as he slowly walked into Cordelia's unoccupied room. The one girl in all the world that he wanted to be in that bed was not there. Worse than that, he was unaware of where she was and whether or not she was even still alive. "Where's Cordelia?" he spat out angrily.

"I don't know!" the on-call nurse said for the millionth time. "Please, just leave," she begged. "I don't know anything! You have to listen to me!"

"No, you have to listen!" Angel countered angrily as he slammed her against the wall by her very fragile neck. "Now," he began in a slightly calmer voice. "My science and magick friend Fred over here," he continued with a nod at the physicist, "can send you to total hell if you don't cooperate."

"Eternal torment, actually," Fred corrected weakly. "But yea. It would only take about twenty minutes, tops."

"And that was pre-Wolfram and Hart resources at her fingertips," Angel injected as he turned back towards the nurse. "And it sounds pretty painful."

"Look, I don't know where Cordelia is, ok?" the nurse argued. "I came in to do the regular checking up on Cordelia as always and these two children were in here. They took off and I called you. That's all I know, I swear!"

"Children?" Fred asked curiously.

The nurse tried to nod but found it impossible within Angel's grip. She settled for moving her hand up and down to signify the meaning. "Two of them. Boy and girl. Around the age of ten and eight, respectively."

Angel groaned as he reluctantly released his grip on the woman, letting her go. He was trying to keep a level head in the situation, but something like that was extremely hard, especially considering that the situation involved Cordelia. "Just find the children and bring them to my office as soon as you do." His tone of voice was serious and he felt fairly confident that he had made his point clear.

With his command being given, he turned around and began heading out the door, Fred following right behind him like a dog following its owner. As soon as Angel had left the room he saw one person standing there who would, in his mind, completely prove that the nurse knew nothing of Cordelia's whereabouts. "Eve," he muttered her name over his lips. "What did you do to Cordelia?"

"What did I do to her?" Eve asked in shock. "No, it should be what did she do to Lindsey?"

"Cordelia did what she had to do for the better of the world!" Angel shot back. "So you decided to get revenge by taking her body somewhere and replacing it with two children, didn't you?" he asked.

"What?" Eve asked in confusion. "I don't know anything about children. It's not my fault she's dead."

Those last few words from the liaison's mouth infuriated Angel. Feeling that Eve was somewhat responsible, he felt no guilt for taking his anger out of her. He grabbed her neck with an unreal amount of strength behind it and slammed her down against the railing of the top of the stairwell. "You take that back," he commanded.

"Or what?" Eve asked, clearly not intimidated by his words. "Face it, Angel, I'm immortal. You can't exactly choke me in attempt to kill me now, can you?"

"No," Angel admitted as he tightened his grip on the malicious woman in front of him. "You're right there. But how good would it be for you to spend eternity in a vegetative coma? I'm almost positive that's not what you had in mind for you and Lindsey," he threatened.

"What does it matter?" she asked. "Lindsey's gone. You and your little vision bitch made sure of that," Eve muttered harshly as she shot icy cold glares at the vampire.

"Fred," Angel began in a much more calm manner.

The scientist's head perked up like an innocent child in school who had been daydreaming. "I'm listening," she said quickly. "What?" she asked a moment later.

"Why don't you just put a message over the intercom system thing saying when someone finds these two children to send them to my office. Would you be a doll and do that?" he asked.

"A doll?" Fred asked in amazement with Angel's choice of words.

Angel shrugged. "Maybe I've been hanging around Lorne a bit too much," he explained lamely. "But would you?"

Fred smiled. "Of course," she agreed as she started walking down the hallway.

Angel smiled wickedly as he grabbed Eve's wrist tightly with his left hand before releasing his grip on her neck. "Come on," Angel commanded.

"Like I really have a choice," Eve mumbled as she followed. "What are you going to do with me?" she asked a moment later as the two of them neared the stairs.

"I'm going to actually make you useful for once," the vampire replied as the two of them continued the long trek down the stairs to the vampire's office.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Fred's sweet voice echoed over the intercom system of the large law firm. She frowned, hoping she had done everything right. After guessing that she had, she turned around and prepared herself to leave the room and either head to her lab or to Angel's office. She was unsure of which.

"Lovely voice you have there," Knox, Fred's lab assistant, said pleasantly from the doorway leading out of the room. "And out of curiosity, who are these children we're looking for and why are we looking for them?" he asked as he stepped aside slightly to allow his thin co-worker to exit the room.

"So it worked?" Fred asked curiously as she began walking down the hallway towards Angel's office. "I mean, you heard me?"

Knox nodded. "Pretty sure the whole firm heard you," he answered as he struggled to keep up with her faster walking pace. "But back to my questions."

"I don't know who they are, but they might know something about Cordelia," Fred answered. "And if you don't mind, I have to see Angel. Alone," she added as she ducked into one of the copy rooms, hoping to loose Knox.

Unfortunately, her assistant knew exactly where she was. But luckily enough, he realized he had more important things to do than to try and get the girl to fall in love with him. What he should be concentrate on, he thought, would be a way of getting Wesley out of the way. That was his only real competition. He shrugged and headed back to the lab.

* * *

"These the kids Angel's looking for?" Gunn asked as he approached Harmony's desk. The blond assistant sitting there peered over at the two children, the girl holding Gunn's left hand while the boy was on the right of Gunn.

"I think so," Harmony answered as she stepped out and walked in front of her desk for a better look at the children. She knelt down, looking at the little girl. "I've seen her before," she stated. "Granted she was not dressed in some tacky white thing, but I've seen her."

Cordelia frowned at the mention of her outfit. "It's not my fault I'm wearing this," she argued. "Someone kidnapped me," she stated. "I don't know why. My father's not going to pay ransom, he's just going to sue everyone in this creepy place."

"I know this girl!" Harmony stated. "That phrase. I heard it all the time growing up." She sighed, still trying to remember where exactly she knew the girl as she picked up the phone on her desk and pushed Angel's extension. "Angel, those children are here," she announced.

Moments later the vampire emerged from his office, dragging Eve right behind him. "Oh god," he announced at sight of the two children who looked like younger versions of people from his past. He forgot about his evil liaison for a brief moment and he dropped his hold on her as he moved closer to the children.

Fortunately, Gunn realized the release of Eve before the liaison and immediately grabbed hold of her arm to prevent her from running off. Eve just sighed, blowing strands of hair away from her face as she rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Cordelia?" Angel asked as he too knelt down in front of the children. "Cordelia, is it you?"

The little girl frowned. "How'd you know my name?" she asked. "Do you work for the government?"

"Cordy, it's me. It's Angel," he tried as he stood up, looking over to Harmony. "It's really her, right?"

Harmony's blond head bounced up and down in agreement. "All the way," she declared as she studied the young girl. "Second grade, I'd say based on the hair."

"Who are you?" Cordelia asked as she moved closer to Doyle.

Angel groaned in spite of himself. On the first hand, he was completely thrilled to have Cordelia back, alive, with him. But if she did not even remember him, there was not much point to it. Especially since she was way to young to know what she would feel for him. She would not be able to say the three simple words he had been waiting nearly four years to hear. "Cordy, do you know how you got here?" he asked finally.

Again Cordelia shrugged. "I don't know. Willow's the smart one. She takes third grade math," she pointed out. "Maybe you should ask him," she suggested as she pointed at Doyle.

"Actually," Gunn injected, "I think we should go get Lorne. This has mystical-y-ness written all over it."

"Mystical-y-ness?" Fred asked as she approached her friends outside the office. She smiled down at the two children, studying them to see if she knew them.

"It's Cordelia and Doyle," Angel announced. "Doyle with me before we rescued you," he explained for Fred's benefit. "Only problem is they don't know what's going on any more than we do and we can't exactly ask them to do research since they're little."

At that moment a wicked smile crossed over Angel's lips as he turned his head slightly, catching sight of the liaison trying to brake free from Gunn's grip. "Let her go," he said.

"Angel, you serious?" Gunn asked. "This is Eve."

"Yes, I know it's Eve," Angel began. "Let her go."

Gunn shrugged as he dutifully did what he was told to do. "Listen Eve," he said as he got directly in the woman's face. "You're going to make yourself useful. These two are bored," he said as he gestured down at Cordelia and Doyle. The two children were now huddled together and holding hands. "You take them out and do whatever they command you to do as long as it doesn't break the law. Wait, amendment. You can break the law as long as doing such would not harm them, but harming you is acceptable. Have fun," Angel said. He then knelt down to the children. "You two be as difficult as you like with her, ok?" he asked.

Cordelia's face lit up with excitement. "OK!" she agreed happily as she walked over to Eve. "Are you rich?" she asked curiously.

"Beg pardon?" Eve asked as she found herself being dragged away by the young versions of Cordelia and Doyle.

"You heard the girl," Doyle said. "Are you stupid? She asked if you were rich."

"I guess," Eve began hesitantly. "Why?"

"'Cause I want to go shopping," Cordelia announced firmly. "I want to buy lots of pretty jewelry, clothes, and a crown! Yea, that's it. I want a crown," she rambled on. "My daddy always said I'm his little princess."

"You're my little princess too," Doyle argued as he rushed to catch up with the two females who were getting closer to the exit from Wolfram and Hart. "But my mom said that my dad was always drinking. Can I be drinking too?" he asked.

"Like in soda?" Eve asked curiously as she made more and more mental notes to herself on ways to get even with Angel.

The young boy shook his head back and forth. "Come on, you're supposed to be a grown up! I want to drink beer!"

"I-I don't think Angel would like it if I let you drink beer," Eve began slowly as she tried to think of anything that would be able to persuade the boy to want to do something-anything- else.

"How do you know what Angel likes?" Cordelia asked as she placed her hands on her hips. "But that doesn't matter! I want a tiara, and I want it now!" she yelled loudly.

* * *

"Yep, that's definitely the Cordelia I knew," Harmony affirmed as she overheard Cordelia's little outburst on the other side of the main lobby.

"But the real question is what is she doing here and why is she seven," Gunn stated as he followed Angel into the vampire's office.

Lorne quickly approached the group as he too entered the office. "What's all this hubbub?" he asked curiously as he sat down on the leather couch positioned opposite from the doors to the office.

"It's Cordelia," Angel began slowly as he made sure all his friends faces were on him. Fred, Harmony, Gunn, Wesley-who had joined the group by then-, and Lorne were all focusing their eyes on the brooding vampire. Fred mainly out of politeness for she knew most of the story already. "She's not in a coma anymore," Angel stated as he connected all the facts in his mind.

"Do you mean she's--" Wesley started the loathed sentence.

Angel shook his head. "She's not dead," he quickly assured Wesley. "On the contrary, actually. She's quite alive."

"So then what's the hold-up?" Lorne asked. "There's a couple parts in the acting world I know she would be dying to have and I want to see the look on her face when I tell her she can have some of them."

"Wait about fourteen years for that to happen," Angel said in a rushed voice. "She's seven right now, Lorne," he added in explanation. "And she has Doyle with her."

"Doyle your associate who died Doyle?" Wesley asked in a crisp English accent. Angel nodded solemnly in response, provoking a "God god" from Wesley.

"How?" Lorne asked.

"That's what we kind of need you to figure out," Angel began slowly. "It's mystical and no one knows more about that sort of stuff than you."

Lorne shrugged. "Well, I know some things," he began modestly.

"You're what we need," Angel stated in affirmation. "That and a Cordelia and/ or Doyle who would be willing to sing," he added mostly to himself.

"Where are the little peanuts?" Lorne asked as he turned to Angel.

Fred, Gunn, and Angel all exchanged a slightly mischievous look with one another. A short laugh escaped from Fred's mouth before she answered Lorne's question. "They're out causing Eve a living hell, probably," she said.

"You trust Eve enough with them?" Wesley asked in shock as he turned to Angel. "Are you sure? Eve is not one I would trust with things like this. Eve is not one I would trust with anything, definitely not Cordelia and Doyle."

Angel shrugged. "I don't trust Eve at all," he answered honestly. "But she knows that if she hurts them in any way then she stands no chance at getting her boyfriend back."

"Her what?" Lorne asked.

Angel sighed, dismissing the question with a wave of his hand. "She'll protect them. I'm sure of it. Besides, the thought itself is amusing."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

And amusing it was. Cordelia and Doyle sat patiently at the booth to one of the restaurants inside the mall they were in as they waited for Eve to bring them back their drinks, a milkshake for Cordelia and a root beer float for Doyle. The evil liaison had gotten lucky with that one, saying that it contained real beer inside of it and would make him seem more grown up.

"Hey," Doyle whispered as he tapped Cordelia's shoulder lightly as a way of getting her attention. The young girl had insisted that she would be put into real clothes before going anywhere and now she was dressed in a light pink T-shirt with a white poodle on it, light blue jeans, and white sneakers on her feet.

"Hmm?" Cordelia asked as she met Doyle's gaze. She smiled in spite of herself. She was well aware of the fact that this boy was not someone her father would necessarily approve of but she liked him nonetheless. Plus, he was older and he would be able to drive before she could.

"What do you think about sneaking off and leaving the wicked witch behind?" he asked curiously as his hand slipped down and joined with hers under the table.

"Ok," Cordelia agreed as she carefully stood up, watching to make sure Eve was not looking their way, which fortunately she was not. "Ok, here's our chance," she said as the two of them began making their way out of the place.

"Success!" Doyle said happily as they left the place and rushed around to the corner to avoid Eve catching sight of them.

"Wait," Cordelia began as she looked at the massive group of people parading up and down the mall. "What if someone sees us?" she asked.

"Well of course people will see us," Doyle said. "We're not wearing any invisibility cloaks," he pointed out. "Did you have someone in mind who might see us?" he asked.

Cordelia shrugged. "Not really. But I don't want everyone to know that I like a loser. At least not yet," she said.

"You still think I'm a loser!" Doyle exclaimed as he let go of Cordelia's hand.

"In a good way!" Cordelia protested. "But you're still a loser, sorry."

"Well what can I do about that?" Doyle asked her.

"Change your hair," Cordelia suggested. "Maybe wash it a little better."

"Hey!" Doyle protested.

"Sorry," Cordelia apologized as the two of them neared one of the fountains for throwing coins into. "Really," she said as she rushed up to the fountain with excitement and anticipation. "I love these," she told Doyle as he approached her from behind.

Doyle smiled as the two of them sat down on the fountain's side. The two of them were once again joined hand-in-hand. They turned and faced each other sweetly and Doyle placed his hand on Cordelia's shoulder. "Would you mind if I kissed you?" he asked. "I've never done it before."

Cordelia thought the motion over in her head, picturing it to be perfect, just like in the movies. The boy meets the girl and they fall in love. They stand on the beach near sunset and share one long kiss. It was an experience Cordelia imagined she would love. "Ok," she agreed as she moved in closer to Doyle.

Doyle's whole body filled with joy and happiness as he placed his other hand on Cordelia's other shoulder. He closed his eyes and moved in towards where he presumed her mouth would be. He felt something smooth and soft touching up against his lips and he smiled as he brought his lips together and tenderly caressed Cordelia's lips. Even though there was no tongue touching in the process, there was the faintest hint of a blue light passing between them from Cordelia to Doyle.

Cordelia tried to move the two of them to a standing position since she felt it would be more appropriate and it was what a girl should do. Unfortunately, she lost her balance during the process and felt herself moving backwards towards the fountain. Not knowing what she should do, Cordelia clung to Doyle, causing the two of them to land in the fountain with a splash.

"Everyone will see us now," Doyle mumbled softly to Cordelia as he saw the various people gathered around starting to stare at them. Small sounds of laughter began echoing through the room.

A woman in her mid to late forties turned around and offered a hand out to Doyle while her daughter offered a hand to Cordelia. "You two kids ok?" she asked as the two of them were out of the fountain.

"C-cold," Cordelia whispered as the cold air brushing against her wet clothes began causing her to start shivering slightly.

"Me too," Doyle announced as he once again reached for Cordelia's hand. Unfortunately the woman interceded by taking hold of each of their hands. She motioned for her daughter to pick up the Macy's shopping bag while she began walking with Cordelia and Doyle.

"W-where are we g-going?" Cordelia asked between shivers as she moved closer to the woman for warmth.

"The closest customer service outlet," the woman answered. "Does your mother know you two are here?" she asked curiously as she glanced back and forth between Cordelia and Doyle.

"Our mother?" Doyle asked. "We're not related, lady," he began as he looked at the passing stores and restaurants. "Her mother's in Sunnydale and mine's in Ireland."

"Psst," he whispered, tilting his head as they passed the restaurant from which they had left Eve. "Think she's looking for us?"

Before Cordelia had a chance to answer, she heard her name being announced over the loudspeaker along with Doyle's. The message asked for them to be delivered to customer service on the lower floor.

"Is that you two?" the woman asked after the announcement had ended.

Cordelia nodded gravely and Doyle did the same. "Yes," he mumbled miserably.

"H-he made me run off," Cordelia quickly put in. "This was all his idea!"

"Hey, if you want to be trapped with that Eve girl, then fine by me!" Doyle shot back at her.

Cordelia smiled as she glanced at Doyle behind the woman's back. "I never said it was a bad idea," she pointed out. "Just that it was yours."

As the two of them started following the woman downstairs, Cordelia knelt over on the floor. Both hands went to her head, and she started moaning pained expressions. Although her eyes were not closed, she could not see Doyle or the woman. She could not see anything around her. Instead, she saw that man from back at the weird building. He and some other guy were fighting. Then she saw a tombstone with her name engraved into it. She shuddered violently. "What the heck was that?" she exclaimed.


End file.
